Freedom can't come from others

June is a month of celebrations. We have Father's Day, college
and high school graduations and something called Juneteenth. What
Juneteenth is or is not will depend upon whom you ask. It is
celebrated from June 13 through 19, thus the name Juneteenth.

Oceanside hosts one of the largest Juneteenth celebrations in
the country. Usually sponsored by the local chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, it is held at
the beach amphitheater. The reason for the celebration originally
was to remember the liberation of slaves in Texas at the end of the
Civil War.

The story is that the mean slave masters did not tell the slaves
about Mr. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation until two years after
it was issued. Those mean plantation owners did not let the slaves
know about freedom because they wanted them to continue to work in
their fields.

Now, the story is a little different from history, but the
meaning is accurate. The master did not need to tell the slaves
about the Emancipation Proclamation. His slaves were still his
slaves, regardless of what Mr. Lincoln said. His slaves were not
under Lincoln's control; they belonged to the Confederate nation.
Those slaves were not free until the Union's freedom fighters
marched into Texas and said so.

While we celebrate Juneteenth, Oceanside needs to understand the
lessons of the Texas slaves. If your freedom depends upon others,
you will remain a slave.

Real freedom is economic freedom. Real freedom is when you
control your own earnings. Master is a person who controls the
economical security of another. Master controls the slaves the same
way he always has: by fear -- fear of freedom, fear of
self-expression and fear of other slaves.

In Oceanside and across the nation we are being treated like
slaves. Our income is controlled by taxes and fees; our children
are trapped in a noneducational system and our future in retirement
is left in doubt. Because we are so dependent upon others for our
existence, we are controlled by fear.

Fear always leads to dependency. If we are afraid of something
our emotions will turn toward safety, not freedom from fear. When
we are told there is a problem with drunken driving, we are afraid
and allow law enforcement to put up sobriety checkpoints for our
safety. The same is true for seat belt laws, anti-smoking and the
border checkpoints on our freeways. They are all motivated by fear
and helplessness. The slaves must depend upon master, not upon
himself.

While we celebrate Juneteenth, let us remember, Master did not
tell the slaves about freedom. Master told the slaves to fear
freedom. He promised to take care of their problems.

There are some things for which we need government. I cannot
conduct warfare nearly as well as the government employees on Camp
Pendleton. I do not want 50 water departments competing for my
business; the city does a fine job of managing that monopoly.

I do want the city police to stop me for a crime they are
investigating but not to check my driver's license. This practice
is a guise for running a warrants check on selected citizens. In
police lingo it is called "riding the herd." I am not a sheep,
certainly not the city of Oceanside's sheep.

I believe the city government is taking on the role of parent.
They want to check up on us to make sure we are playing nicely with
each other. I reject this. Let me say this in the spirit of
Juneteenth -- I am free and independent. I do not need to wait for
Master to tell me I am free.